Why XConn is Going to Make Broadcom and Microchip Look Small in the CXL 2.0/ PCIe Gen5 Switch Game

But the challenges do not come down to technology alone.

XConn is a small chip startup that is poised to have the biggest and perhaps best chip for the CXL 2.0 and PCIe Gen5 switch market. We first covered the XConn switch in 2022. Since then the company has moved from an idea, to prototype silicon, to what it calls the largest and lowest latency PCIe Gen5 switch on the market. Not only does it support PCIe Gen5, but it also supports CXL 2.0 and a host of other features that make it different than what the PLX line from Broadcom offers or perhaps the Microchip Swithtec lines. To get there, XConn made one strange optimization.

The 256-lane CXL 2.0 / PCIe Gen5 Switch and PCIe Gen5 Switch Products

Recently we saw the XConn XC50256. This is a 256-lane CXL 2.0 and PCIe Gen5 switch chip. There is also a XConn XC51256 which is the PCIe Gen5-only version of the chip. Just for a quick comparison of the new chip versus Broadcom and Microchip largest offerings in the PCIe Gen5 market: